About a quarter to one on Wednesday afternoon a little girl named Bush discovered the body of a police constable lying across the road near Bowlesbury Farm, and thinking something was wrong, she ran home and told her father, Abraham Bush. He communicated at once with PC Allsop, at Martin, who came and recognised the body to be that of PC Giles, stationed at Damerham, a man much respected in that village and neighbourhood.

It appears, from evidence adduced at an inquiry held yesterday (Thursday) by Mr R A Wilson (district coroner), that deceased left his home at 10 o’clock in the morning to deliver some communications at Bowlesbury Farm, and at a quarter to eleven he was met on the road by a man named James Kensington, the men exchanging greetings in the ordinary way, but nothing more was seen of him till he was discovered dead in the road.

Deceased was a tall, fine man, 42 years of age. Dr Payne, of Fordingbridge, gave his opinion, after examining the body, that death resulted from apoplexy, and the jury returned a verdict accordingly.

The funeral will take place at Damerham tomorrow. Much sympathy is felt for the widow, who is left with five very young children, the eldest of whom is only nine years old.